C type Lectin Like molecule 1 (CLL-1) is expressed on AML cells, and on cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are cells that can give rise to additional cancer cells.
One of the major limitations of chemotherapy is the general inability of anticancer drugs to discriminate between normal and cancer cells. Almost all members of the major categories of antineoplastic agents have considerable toxicity for normal cells.
Compositions that specifically target cancer cells can avoid this problem. However, existing cancer targets do not target CSCs. For this reason, existing chemotherapeutic strategies, even when specifically delivered to cancer cells, do not effectively eliminate the cancer. Risk of recurrence remains because the surviving CSCs can give rise to new cancer cells.
CSCs express CD34, similar to hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), but CLL-1 is not expressed on HSCs. This allows CSCs to be specifically targeted using CLL-1. Provided herein are CLL-1 antibodies that recognize a high percentage of CLL-1 expressing cells. The present CLL-1 antibodies are effective for both complement dependent and antibody dependent cytoxicity of CLL-1 expressing cells, and inhibit tumor growth of CLL-1 expressing cancer cells. The presently described antibodies provide novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for targeting CLL-1-associated disorders.